WIST Quotations

Epstein, Joseph -- “Our Favorite Cynic,” New Yorker (25 Mar 1996)

Dave — Thu, 27 Aug 2009 16:05:01 +0000

Scratch a cynic and underneath, as often as not, you will find a dead idealist.

Joseph Epstein (b. 1937) American writer
“Our Favorite Cynic,” New Yorker (25 Mar 1996)

Epstein, Joseph -- Casablanca (1942) [with Philip Epstein and Howard Koch]

Dave — Wed, 27 Mar 2013 08:56:35 +0000

UGARTE: You despise me, don’t you?
RICK: Well, if I gave it any thought, I would.

Joseph Epstein (b. 1937) American writer
Casablanca (1942) [with Philip Epstein and Howard Koch]

Epstein, Joseph -- The Bedford Reader, “Postscript on Process” (ed. Kennedy and Kennedy, 2d ed.) (1985)

Dave — Sun, 01 Feb 2004 16:00:00 +0000

For me, writing is foremost a mode of thinking and, when it works well, an act of discovery.

Joseph Epstein (b. 1937) American writer
The Bedford Reader, “Postscript on Process” (ed. Kennedy and Kennedy, 2d ed.) (1985)

Epstein, Joseph -- The Norton Book of Personal Essays, Introducton (1997)

Dave — Thu, 30 Aug 2007 10:56:29 +0000

Two of the chief ways an essayist can prove interesting are, first, by telling readers things they already know in their hearts but have never been able to formulate for themselves; and, second, by telling them things they do not know and perhaps have never even imagined.

Joseph Epstein (b. 1937) American writer
The Norton Book of Personal Essays, Introducton (1997)

Source